Tuesday, March 26, 2024

#75: Ra (Mark's Top 100 2024)

Ra
BoardGameGeek
  • rank: 136
  • rating: 7.6
  • published: 1999
  • designer: Reiner Knizia
Print Status
  • in print
Why It's On The List
  • I'm not sure why Ra jumps on & off my top games list... it's a splendid auction game that scales well from 3-5 players and is filled with tension and constant reevaluation of values.
Tips & Tricks:
  • Timing is everything. Seriously.
  • My first play of Ra was 90 minutes - which was miserable and turned me off the game for a good year or so. When I finally got to play it at normal speed (30-45 minutes), it jumped considerably in my estimation.
  • There are times (particularly in the final epoch) where winning an auction simply to trade up for a better sun is a good idea. These do not happen as often as I see people making these kinds of trades.
  • There are two spin-off games from the Ra family:
    • Ra: The Dice Game (which I enjoy and wish I owned a copy of...)
    • Priests of Ra (which I do not - it just uses the same base engine & monkeys with the scoring)
Extras
  • Here's what I wrote about Ra for The One Hundred.
  • I finally had the opportunity to play with the new DELUXE edition (wooden big tiles, fancy bag, etc.)... it was very cool but I'm ok with my old skool original edition. (The best thing about the new set is the player boards.)
  • This is the second of seven (7!) Reiner Knizia designs on the list.

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